Here is the link to the MA&Ghttp://magnoliaroute.com/magnolia%20route.htmAlso this one was in the artical on basements;Jim Brewer: Norfolk and Western Railroad http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rdaniels2/layout1.htmRensselaer Model Railroadhttp://railroad.union.rpi.edu/Here is three I like.......but there are more....!!!!
Here is the link to the MA&G
http://magnoliaroute.com/magnolia%20route.htm
Also this one was in the artical on basements;
Jim Brewer: Norfolk and Western Railroad
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/rdaniels2/layout1.htm
Rensselaer Model Railroad
http://railroad.union.rpi.edu/
Here is three I like.......but there are more....!!!!
Here are some links I found.....Please if you have any links to some of these other great layouts lets have them!!!!
Remember put the letters url inside [] in front of link & /url inside [] behind to make it a live link.
Yeah... all of the layouts listed are great, but i gotta go with the Appalachian & Ohio ry made by David Stewart. It's high on the WOW factor, and the scenery looks terrific. I also like that he made an O scale layout without going down the "tinplate" road or going down the "colorado narrow gauge" road.
check out his website: aorailroad.com
The N scale Arkansas and Missouri, done as the 1999 project layout has always made a favorable impression on me. It's modestly sized, but looked like fun to build and operate. Unfortunately, I can't find a live link to the website anymore. I believe the track plan is in the MR on-line archive, though.
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
Virginian and Ohio
Allegheny Midland
Utah Belt
Cat Mountain and Santa Fe
BNSF Chillicothe Division
Ohio Southern
Milwaukee, Racine, and Troy
Those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
A cool thread to ressurrect!
My favorites? Too many to mention, too many to even remember, truth be told!
There are the obvious choices, of course: G&D, I loved the Mescal Lines also, and Pelle Soeborg's is inspiring for it's simple elegance.
But the one I remember with the most attachment was the Clinchfield build series.
Here's why:
I discovered MR in the high school library on an off period in either October or November 1978, the Clinchfield series was wrapping up. Up to this point all I knew about were train sets: cheap, poor running HO diesels, horn hook couplers, and brass rail sectional track that wouldn't stay together for more than 5 minutes at a stretch.
MR, and the Clinchfield layout building series showed that there was a lot more: a hobby, and that there were a lot of people doing very interesting things: realistic scenery, prototype operation, smooth running rolling stock, and that anyone could do the same with a little effort and a little available space.
The mag was always about inspiring others to try and push the boundaries, and many of the featured layouts have been prime examples of this philosophy, and continue to be.
I've enjoyed nearly every layout feature, but the one layout I can never see enough of is the gone, but not forgotten, Gorre & Daphetid by John Allen.
Was there ever a feature on Linn Westcott's layout, the Sunset Limited Railway and Navigation Company?
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
A true friend will not bail you out of jail...he will be sitting next to you saying "that was friggin awesome dude!" Tim...Modeling the NYC...is there any other?
In random order:
El Rio de las Mantañas Railroad , Malcolm Furlow
Crooked Mountain RR, Bob Hegge
G&D, John Allen
Mescal Lines, John Olsen
San Juan Central, MF
There a few others that were in the Gazette, like Lane Stewart's Empire & District microlayout , and a couple layouts that were in Garden Railways.
Have fun with your trains
For me, it's this layout: http://www.trains.com/mrr/default.aspx?c=a&id=1464 . I get to visit and operate on the layout whenever I want, plus the owner has become my model railroading mentor.
I've also had the pleasure of visiting the now defunct Cat Mountain and Santa Fe, owned by David Barrow.
Don Z.
Research; it's not just for geeks.
Well, John Allen's G&D line was always my favorite when I was much younger and growing up in the hobby, and it still has a lot of influence on how I envisioned my own Yuba River Sub, so I definitely have to mention it. Besides, I'm going to attempt his floor-deep scenery pretty soon, myself.
I'm very fond of the Utah Belt, even if the locos and rolling stock are a little more contemporary than I would model--but I like the sense of space on the layout--it looks as if it is going somewhere for a purpose.
I like Pelle Soberg's layout for the same reason--his use of space is very well realized, and his newer "Donner River" portion is very well realized (though being from that area of the Sierra, there IS no 'Donner River', however there is a 'Donner Creek' which runs about five miles from Donner Lake and empties into the Truckee River. But his concept is valid.
I admire Joe Fugate's Siskiyou Lines very much.
And Allen McClellan's old V&O was always a pleasure to see gracing the pages of MR. Though I've never really visited that particular portion of the country, I think he captured the Appalachian coal region extremely well.
And on another note, Bill McClanahan's "Texas and Rio Grande Western" from about the same era as John Allen's G&D packed a lot of scenic action into a rather small space. Plus, he wrote one of the original MR books on scenery, which was a kind of 'bible' for its time.
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
vsmith wrote:In random order: El Rio de las Mantañas Railroad , Malcolm Furlow Crooked Mountain RR, Bob HeggeG&D, John AllenMescal Lines, John OlsenSan Juan Central, MFThere a few others that were in the Gazette, like Lane Stewart's Empire & District microlayout , and a couple layouts that were in Garden Railways.
potlatcher wrote: When I "archive" my issues of MR, I cut out all the articles that I expect will have some use in the future, staple those together and put them in a plastic sleeve in a binder. Everything else, including most of the layout photo tour articles (not the layout construction articles), goes to recycling. Most of those layout tours fall into the "you've seen one, you've seen them all" category. A few of the exceptions that I have kept in my archive are: Jack Burgess' Yosemite Valley, Lance Mindheim's HO Monon, Bill Ven der Meer's Sweetwater & Orient (ATSF), Perry Amicangelo's C&NW, and Bob Madison's Ninigret Cove/Dorrville Branch (NYNH&H). I guess I prefer the well-detailed smaller layouts with a unique theme to another massive, but boring, version of Horseshoe Curve or Tehachapi Loop.Tom
When I "archive" my issues of MR, I cut out all the articles that I expect will have some use in the future, staple those together and put them in a plastic sleeve in a binder. Everything else, including most of the layout photo tour articles (not the layout construction articles), goes to recycling. Most of those layout tours fall into the "you've seen one, you've seen them all" category. A few of the exceptions that I have kept in my archive are: Jack Burgess' Yosemite Valley, Lance Mindheim's HO Monon, Bill Ven der Meer's Sweetwater & Orient (ATSF), Perry Amicangelo's C&NW, and Bob Madison's Ninigret Cove/Dorrville Branch (NYNH&H). I guess I prefer the well-detailed smaller layouts with a unique theme to another massive, but boring, version of Horseshoe Curve or Tehachapi Loop.
"Archive?" Cut? Recycling? BLASPHEMY!! Seriously, potlatcher, you may live to regret this practice. As you grow older and your tastes change, or you come up against some modeling problem, you won't have the rest of the "meat" from those discarded magazines for inspiration and research--and as good as this forum is, it can't replace dead authors and lost magazine articles, tips, etc.
I live in a tiny Gov't subsidized apartment, on the minimal income of Social Security Disability and can only dream of the railroad I'll probably never be able to build, but by golly, I have my "Paper Time Machine," including 63 years of Model Railroader, and can always revisit the layouts of such as John Allen, Paul Larson, Frank Ellison, Gordy Odegard, George Allen (who had the help of Ernie Heubner), Bruce Chubb, and dozens of others. Replacing these--even if one knew which ones to replace after discarding the rest of the magazines--would cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars!
Excuse me, I think I'll go lie down and page through some old '50s MRs and admire the model railroads of Past Masters...
Dean-58 wrote: potlatcher wrote: When I "archive" my issues of MR, I cut out all the articles that I expect will have some use in the future, staple those together and put them in a plastic sleeve in a binder. Everything else, including most of the layout photo tour articles (not the layout construction articles), goes to recycling. Most of those layout tours fall into the "you've seen one, you've seen them all" category. A few of the exceptions that I have kept in my archive are: Jack Burgess' Yosemite Valley, Lance Mindheim's HO Monon, Bill Ven der Meer's Sweetwater & Orient (ATSF), Perry Amicangelo's C&NW, and Bob Madison's Ninigret Cove/Dorrville Branch (NYNH&H). I guess I prefer the well-detailed smaller layouts with a unique theme to another massive, but boring, version of Horseshoe Curve or Tehachapi Loop.Tom"Archive?" Cut? Recycling? BLASPHEMY!! Seriously, potlatcher, you may live to regret this practice. As you grow older and your tastes change, or you come up against some modeling problem, you won't have the rest of the "meat" from those discarded magazines for inspiration and research--and as good as this forum is, it can't replace dead authors and lost magazine articles, tips, etc.I live in a tiny Gov't subsidized apartment, on the minimal income of Social Security Disability and can only dream of the railroad I'll probably never be able to build, but by golly, I have my "Paper Time Machine," including 63 years of Model Railroader, and can always revisit the layouts of such as John Allen, Paul Larson, Frank Ellison, Gordy Odegard, George Allen (who had the help of Ernie Heubner), Bruce Chubb, and dozens of others. Replacing these--even if one knew which ones to replace after discarding the rest of the magazines--would cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars!Excuse me, I think I'll go lie down and page through some old '50s MRs and admire the model railroads of Past Masters...
Since no one has listed it yet, mine would have to be Blair Kooisra's Walla Walla Valley from 2005 Great Model Railroads. This layout is sensational. A small layout that has it all. Most of us don't have a large layout but this layout just right in all aspects. Lot's of industries and endless possibilities. The websiterelly goes into detail.
Here's the link:
http://www.wwvrailway.com
What do you think?
S. Crabtree
Cental Virginia
http://www.virginiamidlandrr.blogspot.com/
http://www.pbase.com/vamidlandrr
PASMITH wrote: vsmith wrote: In random order: El Rio de las Mantañas Railroad , Malcolm Furlow Crooked Mountain RR, Bob HeggeG&D, John AllenMescal Lines, John OlsenSan Juan Central, MFThere a few others that were in the Gazette, like Lane Stewart's Empire & District microlayout , and a couple layouts that were in Garden Railways. Speaking of the Gazette, how about:Editor and Publisher, Bob Brown's Tuolumne Forks.Boone Morrison's North Pacific Coast RailroadPaul Temlar's Badger Creek Lumber CoPaul Scoles Pelican Bay Railway & Navigation CoHarry Brunk's UC&NHerb Chaudiere's ( The father of all sound systems) Craniis Garden RailwayTo name a few.Peter Smith, Memphis
vsmith wrote: In random order: El Rio de las Mantañas Railroad , Malcolm Furlow Crooked Mountain RR, Bob HeggeG&D, John AllenMescal Lines, John OlsenSan Juan Central, MFThere a few others that were in the Gazette, like Lane Stewart's Empire & District microlayout , and a couple layouts that were in Garden Railways.
Yes, I am consistantly amazed at the quality of layouts that come out in that mag. The series of articles on the Pelican Bay have been great, I have Brunks compilation book on the UC&N, its really useful for any Colorado narrow gauge type layout.
Sitting here scratching my head that nobody has mentioned the foundation stone on which a lot of the ideas incorporated in the listed layouts were originated and tested:
John Armstrong's Canandaigua Southern.
The published trackplan, and John's commentary, have provided me with more inspiration than any three of the later entrants - largely because I recognize the source of so many of the ideas.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
CLICK HERE FOR THE CSX DIXIE LINE BLOG
My all time favorite always has been Jim Hediger's Ohio Southern. (both versions)
If I had to add some others they would be:
Richard Francaviglia's "Cumberland & Ohio" (small coal hauling RR on a 4x6)
MR's "Clinchfield."
Bruce Chubb's "Sunset Valley." (1st version)
I also remember an awesome Erie layout from an issue sometime in 1978-can't remember the fellow's name, & the issue is currently MIA.
Another one from about the same time that was a club layout in either Anaheim or Pasadena, CA that was built in a former bowling alley. The size of it was absolutely amazing.
+
I will say without question the layout featured in MR July 2004 issue of the Western Maryland RR Blackwater Division. The layout was labelled fabulous 9x5 and was built by Ken Kyser of Baltimore Md. In fact I liked the layout so much that I retained the services of Byron Henderson to modify it to include an engine servicing area and a larger yard as well as expand the layout by some 20 square feet(length). If I ever get over this sciatic problem I`ll start on it as iv`e armchaired this hobby long enough. I was considering having this layout professionally built but my wife went off the " deep end" when she found out how much I was willing to spend.
Bob D As long as you surface as many times as you dive you`ll be alive to read these posts.
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
Somthing about the MR project layout a few years back called the burlington northern in n scale, through Madison has always been a favorite of mine.
But, i would have to say my true favorite would be from MRP 2000, Marty Mcguirk's Southern New England. It opened my eyes to a railroad that was almost in my back yard,,,,,,that i never knew almost existed!!! 20 some odd years and i never knew it was in my back yard!!!
interesting thread!
Joe
Modeling:
Providence & Worcester Railroad
"East Providence Secondary"
HO scale
Hi Everyone, this is a great thread, i just got back in a couple of years ago on recieving my model railroading mags, i've seen so many great layouts it puts me in dream land, since i don't know to many of the layout builders, maybe you can help me to find three of them IF they where ever built, 1( THE CAJON PASS) 2(THE DONNER PASS RR) and finally, 3(THE TEHACHAPI PASS RR) I like the donner pass rr the best, if you have seen these three in any of the MODEL RAILROAD MAG PLEASE LET ME KNOW, i would love to do donner pass, i will contact model rr and send them some money for those issues. thanks Earl steam618lover1
What Do you call an engineer drinking jack and coke???? A HIGH BALLER
There are so many to choose from! My all-time fave is the famed Gorre & Daphetid! It was and still is an inspiration for me. The V&O and the Argentine District layout are very well done as well -- great scenery and operations to boot!
-Chuck
Modeling the Motor City